David Fizdale gushes about his trip to Latvia and conversations with Kristaps Porzingis

It sounds like, from David Fizdale’s account, his trip to Latvia was a great success.

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Becoming the first Knicks head coach or executive to visit Kristaps Porzingis in his hometown of Liepaja, Fizdale said he got the impression his star is excited about the future and eager to move on from a chaotic past (one that includes three coaching changes, trade blocks and a skipped exit meeting).

“Yes, I also touched on the past a bit, but I think that part of Kristaps is ready to go further. All that has happened so far, it’s to be left in the past,” Fizdale told Latvian publication Sportacentrs.com, according to Google translate. “Many changes have taken place in the team, we have many new characters. Mentally, especially after returning to injury, he is ready to strive for the new goals that await us.

“These meetings were more like the time spent together by two men, talking about basketball and getting to know each other. I think that Kristaps is excited about the direction in which we go with the team.”

New Knicks coach David Fizdale opens up about his bonding trip to Latvia. (Mary Altaffer / AP)

Fizdale went to Latvia with his wife, Natasha, and spent time with Porzingis’ family. He took a similar trip to visit Marc Gasol in Spain when he was coaching the Grizzlies, but that relationship ultimately deteriorated.

With Porzingis, Fizdale hopes to install new leadership qualities.

“Of course, we talked a lot about his family and Liepaja, but we also talked about the rehabilitation process, told him what I see about the way forward, about the style of the game,” Fizdale said. “We talked about how Kristaps would take on a bigger role. We will have a new team in which Kristaps will be quite a veteran. We talked about the ways in which I see him naturally becoming the leader of the team. Of course, I told him how we see him lifting our game to the next level and how we will do it together. …The meetings were great, I got a concrete and good impression on his home."

Porzingis is still rehabbing from ACL surgery with an unclear recovery timetable. The Knicks have stated they’ll have a better idea about when Porzingis can play again by September. Fizdale again preached patience.

“Nothing is clear. We said that the most important thing is to return to that level of feelings when he feels good, comfortable and when he feels it will be the right time to return to the court,” Fizdale said. “We must do everything right in order to prevent any risks.”

Porzingis is eligible for a five-year, $158 million extension but the Knicks could save significant cap space for 2019 by waiting a year to offer it. Either way, Porzingis gets the same amount of money because the extension wouldn’t kick in until the 2019-20 season. He just loses the security while trying to return from a traumatic injury.

The only member of the 2015 draft class to sign a max extension is Devin Booker. According to reports, Karl-Anthony Towns is also negotiating one with the T-Wolves.